Nathan Cyrus Mead

Nathan married Mary C. Egan on 12 Oct 1921 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. Mary (daughter of William Egan and Margaret Livingston) was born about 1857 in Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Massachusetts
• Alternate birth: Abt 1825, Cayuga County, New York
• Alternate birth: Abt 1826, Cayuga County, New York

Notes:

Sorting out the life of Albert Cyrus Mead has been a journey.

The preponderance of online records say that he was born in New York, including most census records that give him a place of birth. The 1932 death certificate of his son Edwin Albert Mead is one of several records that say he was born in Cayuga County, New York. The 1900 census specifies that he was born in New York state in December 1825, and that his father was born in New Jersey and his mother in Connecticut. The death certificate of his daughter Emma, who died 31 Jan 1901 in Williamston, Michigan, says that he was born in Massachusetts, actual birthplace of her mother. The death certificate of his son John Newton Mead, who died 5 Feb 1922 in Detroit, says he was born in Medina County, Ohio; see further on for more about that location. The death certificate of his son Myron O. Mead, who died 4 Apr 1920 in Mason, Ingham County, Michigan, says that he was born in Pennsylvania. The 1850 US census says he was born in Ohio.

Several ancestry.com trees, without offering proof, say that his father was a John Mead who was born in New Jersey in 1803 and died in Medina County, Ohio in 1882. A Find a Grave page exists for a John Mead, birthdate and birthplace unknown, who died 27 Dec 1882 and is buried at Chatham Township Cemetery, Chatham Township, Medina County, Ohio, age 79 according to his gravestone inscription. The name "Nancy B.", presumably his wife, is visible on the stone. Census records from 1850 to 1880 confirm the presence in Lafayette, Medina County, Ohio of a John Mead born in New Jersey between 1802 and 1804, and his wife Nancy. The 1840 census, which was of course taken before the census began recording the names of all family members, also lists a John Mead in Lafayette, Medina County, Ohio. If Alfred Cyrus Mead was this man's son and was born in 1825, he would presumably be one of the two "free while persons under 20" enumerated on the 1840 census form.

Another hint to Albert Cyrus Mead's ancestry may be in his middle name. Many of the descendants of the 17th-century immigrant William Mead, born 1592 in Watford, Hertfordshire, died 1657 in Stamford, Connecticut, and his wife Philip, were in upstate New York, including Cayuga County, by the 1700s. At least two of William Meade's direct descendants were named Darius Mead. A DAR lineage book mentions an Albert Darius Mead, daughter of James S. Mead and Margaret Culbertson. Darius was a course a great emperor of Persia, as was Cyrus. Another descendant of William Mead was Cyrenius Mead, born in upstate New York in 1785, died in 1862.

A larger mystery is the fact that Albert Cyrus Mead appears to have married Sarah Branch twice. A History of the Leading Branch Families in America (citation details below) says of Sarah Branch, daughter of Elisha Branch and Sarah Thompson of Worthington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, born 9 Apr 1823, that she "married Jan. 7, 1847, Albert Mead." This is plausible, since the 17 Oct 1923 death certificate of their eldest child, Nathan Cyrus Mead, gives his birth as having taken place on 9 Nov 1847 in Medina County, Ohio. Furthmore, the will of Sarah Branch's father Elisha Branch, dated 1 Sep 1856, mentions his daughter Sarah Mead, so they must have been married before he wrote his will.

Backing up to establish the proven relationships: The 1932 death certificate of AP's great-great grandfather Edwin Albert Mead, son of Albert Cyrus Mead, says that his mother, Sarah Branch, was born in Worthington, Massachusetts. The published vital records of Worthington do indeed show a Sarah Branch born there 9 Apr 1823, daughter of Elisha Branch. That this Sarah Branch is the same individual as the mother of Edwin Albert Mead is made crystal-clear by the obituary of Sarah Branch Mead in the Lansing State Journal, 15 Dec 1914, p. 12, which says that she died that day, age 91, that she was "born in Hampshire county, Mass., April 9, 1823", and that among the children surviving her was "Edwin Mead of Detroit."

A Find a Grave page for Elisha Branch of Worthington, Massachusetts, the individual recorded in Worthington records as the father of the Sarah Branch born there 9 Apr 1823, says that he was born there on 9 Apr 1787, and that he, his wife Sally Thompson, and all his children, including Sarah b. 9 Apr 1823, removed to Ohio in the 1830s, where they both died, he in 1856 and she in 1867, in...Medina, Medina County, Ohio. (Citation details for this page can be found on our entry for Elisha Branch.) And the aforementioned will of "Elisha Branch of York Township Medina County Ohio", dated 1 Sep 1856, proved 24 Nov 1856, can be found in Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1988 on ancestry.com.

Elisha Branch's Find a Grave page includes links to Find a Grave pages for several of Elisha and Sally's children, and several of Elisha's brothers. Of the children, Nathan C. Branch is said to have died in Meridian, Ingham County, Michigan in 1897. Cordelia Sophia (Branch) Judson died in 1905 in Benzonia, Benzie County, Michigan. Betsy (Branch) Hudson died in 1902 in Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan. Edwin T. Branch died 1901 in Homer, Calhoun County, Michigan. And Elisha Branch's brother Dr. Nathan Branch died in 1860 in Allegan County, Michigan. Of these many relatives, the one closest in age to Sarah Branch is her older brother Nathan, born in 1821, and as noted above, he, like her, wound up in Ingham County; in fact, he is buried in Williamston.

Most of these relationships, and all of these dates, are confirmed in a biography of one G. Spitzer, "agriculturalist and stock-raiser", in the 1881 History of Medina County and Ohio (citation details below). Mr. Spitzer married Mary J. Branch, younger sister of Sarah Branch. Elisha Branch and his wife Sallie Thompson came to York Township, Medina County, Ohio, in 1832, with all of their children. Sarah Branch is called "Sarah, Mrs. Albert Mead, in Michigan."

Census records over the next few decades, and the birthdates of their children, mostly line up with the idea that Albert Cyrus Mead and Sarah Branch married in the late 1840s, probably in Ohio, and went from there to Michigan, as implied by the biography of G. Spitzer quoted above. The 1850 census of Phelpstown, Michigan, part of which later became Williamston, Michigan, shows an Albert Mead, 25 years old, born in Ohio, married to a Sarah, age 27, also born in Ohio. The 1860 census of Williamston shows A. C. Mead, farmer, age 35, born in New York, with wife S, 37, born in Massachusetts, and children including E. A. (i.e., Edwin Albert Mead), age 9, born in Michigan. The 1870 census of Williamston shows Albert Mead, farmer, 45, born in New York, with his wife Sarah, 47, born in Massachusetts, and several children including Edwin, 19, born in Michigan. The 1880 census, again at Williamston, shows Albert C. Mead, farmer, 54, born in New York of a father born in New Jersey and a mother born in Connecticut. Albert's wife is Sarah, age 56, born in Massachusetts of parents also born there. The only real inconsistency here is the assertion in the 1850 census that they were both born in Ohio, and this is well within the usual range of misunderstandings found in census records. In 1850, if our model is correct, Albert and Sarah Mead had only recently arrived in Michigan from Ohio.

From all of this, and from the birthdates of their several children, it seems overwhelmingly plausible that Albert Cyrus Mead and Sarah Branch married in Medina County in 1847 and that not too long afterward they moved to Michigan. Which leads to a real puzzle. There is a handwritten register showing the marriage, in Lansing, on 31 May 1880 (!) of Albert C. Mead of Williamston, 54, born in New York, to Sarah B. Mead (the record includes the note "maiden name not given"), 56, born in Massachusetts. The date is clearly not mistranscribed; the record appears on a civil marriage register with fourteen other 1880 marriages. It is possible, of course, that these are two entirely separate individuals whose names (including middle initials), ages, and origins line up perfectly. But we do have to wonder: Is it possible that Albert and Sarah were never officially married until 1880? Or that some irregularity (say, the loss of records of an earlier marriage) compelled them to be married again?

Whatever the case, the 1880 census and this puzzling 1880 marriage record are the last we see of Albert and Sarah Mead together. Another handwritten marriage register found on ancestry.com shows that on 26 Feb 1885, in Lansing, Albert C. Mead, age 59, born in Cayuga Co., N.Y., married Hannah Beal, also called in the record Hannah Buxton, 43, born in England. (The word prior to "England" is hard to make out. It may say "Eastern"; it may say "Easton", which could refer to a neighborhood of Bristol or a village in Norfolk.) Records of the 1890 US census were of course mostly destroyed in a fire in 1921, but the 1900 census, again at Williamston, shows Albert C. Mead, farmer, age 74, born Dec 1825 in New York, father born in New Jersey and mother born in Connecticut, with wife Hannah, born Mar 1841 in England, of parents born in England. Hannah emigrated to the US in 1848. Meanwhile, the 1900 census of Lansing shows, in the household of Charles and Lois (Mead) Quay (Lois was the youngest child of Albert Cyrus and Sarah Mead, born in 1865), "Mead, Sarah B.", mother-in-law, born Apr 1823 in Massachusetts, father and mother both born in Massachusetts. The letter in the box for "Whether single, married, widowed, or divorced" is W, for "widowed". The number in the box for "Number of years married" is 53. 1900 minus 53 is of course 1847. In the 1910 census, she is in the same household, still called mother-in-law, age 87, born in Massachusetts of parents born there as well, and still a widow; the only difference is that the "years married" box is empty.

This would not be the first time that we have seen an older woman who was divorced or abandoned by her husband state to census-takers that she was "widowed" despite the fact that her former husband was still alive. It is interesting, though, that in 1900 she answered "53" to "number of years married", but gave no answer to the same question ten years later. Did Albert Cyrus Mead die in the intervening years? A grave for an "Albert C. Mead, 1825-1905" does exist at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, and the cemetery record says he died 28 Apr 1905 and was interred the next day. And the Los Angeles city directory for 1905 does list a "Mead, Hannah (wid Albert C)" living at 518 Maple Avenue. Arguing against this identification is the fact that the Los Angeles death record of Albert C. Mead who died in 28 Apr 1905, age 85, says he was born in Ohio. A death notice for him in the 2 May 1905 edition of the Los Angeles Herald also gives the deceased's birthplace as Ohio, but says his age at death was 80. At any rate, nobody whose data discernably lines up with that of Albert Cyrus Mead or Hannah Mead can be found in the 1910 census. So it seems very likely that he died between 1900 and 1910. Whether he is the Albert C. Mead buried in Los Angeles cannot be confirmed from the information to hand.

Will of Elisha Branch (paywalled):
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8801/images/005866038_00233?pId=13756633

Find a Grave entry for Albert C. Mead buried in Los Angeles in 1905:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68825584/mea

1905 Los Angeles city directory listing for Hannah Mead, widow of Albert C. (paywalled):
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/3342912?pId=228631855

1905 Los Angeles death record of Albert C. Mead (free familysearch.org account required):
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89SF-FCBV?i=1056&cc=2001287&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQG3T-RB1G

Find a Grave entry for John Mead buried at Chatham, Medina County, Ohio in 1882:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62135038/john-mead

Albert married Sarah Branch on 7 Jan 1847. Sarah (daughter of Elisha Branch and Sarah "Sallie" Thompson) was born on 9 Apr 1823 in Worthington, Hampshire, Massachusetts; died on 15 Dec 1914 in Lansing, Ingham, Michigan; was buried in Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1813
• Alternate death: 13 Dec 1914, Lansing, Ingham, Michigan

Notes:

History of Medina County and Ohio (citation details below), naming her as a daughter of Elisha Branch and Sallie Thompson of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, calls her "Mrs. Albert Mead, in Michigan".

From Edythe Alma (Pearsall) Palmer (citation details below):

Sarah Branch Mead moved from a New York county to the Lansing area with her brood of six, lived in a log cabin and taught her children (plus the neighbors') how to read from newspapers on the walls, before she was able to add a real book to her copy of the Bible and one by Charles Dickens. I have a photo (circa 1903) of her at least 90, wearing her black bombazine highnecked shirtwaist, wearing her gold wedding ring, and reading the Bible. (I don't believe that many women could read at all at that time.) Of course, it paid off. Grandpa Mead became a proofreader for the Detroit Free Press, a Shakespeare scholar and a "reader" in the Christian Science church! He loved to laugh and tell funny stories. I remember the one about the witches in Macbeth.

Notes:

"They came west in 1832, and located in York Township. After purchasing his land, he had $25 left. Here they settled and remained until their death . . . They were members of the Congregational Church, and were the staunch representatives of that township." [History of Medina County, citation details below]

The 1830 US census has them in Worthington, Massachusetts; in 1840, they're in York, Medina County, Ohio.

Elisha married Sarah "Sallie" Thompson on 3 Oct 1810 in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Sarah (daughter of Amherst Thompson and Sarah Clark) was born on 3 Jul 1788 in Peru, Berkshire, Massachusetts; died on 13 Feb 1867 in York, Medina, Ohio; was buried in Branch Cemetery, Medina, Medina, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 3 Jul 1788, Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Notes:

Also called Sarah Thompson.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 26 Jun 1745
• Alternate death: 14 Nov 1823

Notes:

Private, Capt. Ebenezer Webber's company, Col. Ezra May's regiment; enlisted 20 Sep 1777; discharged 3 Oct 1777; service, 18 days, on expedition to Stillwater.

Nathan married Elizabeth "Polly" Woodward on 16 Apr 1772 in Preston, New London, Connecticut. Elizabeth (daughter of Daniel Woodward and Hannah Crary) was born on 16 Mar 1748 in Plainfield, Windham, Connecticut; died on 13 Oct 1820 in Worthington, Hampshire, Massachusetts; was buried in North Cemetery, Worthington, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 30 Oct 1820

Notes:

He appears to have been served in the Revolution for nine months beginning in July 1779, under Captain Reuben Lilly.

Amherst married Sarah Clark. Sarah was born in 1767; died on 15 Jan 1852; was buried in Peru Center Cemetery, Peru, Berkshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]